Enhancing Housing Placement Decisions to Improve Prison Safety

The University of Texas at El Paso proposes "Enhancing Housing Placement Decisions to Improve Prison Safety". This project aims to address serious violence in the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) through innovative housing policy enhancements. Leveraging knowledge from a recent groundbreaking study on prison violence, this project focuses on solutions to develop and implement research-informed housing strategies to improve institutional safety. Housing placements are a central factor in the manifestation of prison violence, as they shape individuals' access and contact with others, potentially creating dangerous situations. The consequences of prison violence are far-reaching and can undermine investments in interventions as safety becomes the prioritized focus. Given that housing decisions affect every incarcerated person, optimizing these policies is crucial for systemwide reductions in violence.

Key project activities include comprehensive policy reviews, analysis of serious violence incidents, stakeholder interviews, and collaborative development of enhanced housing policies and implementation. The University of Texas at El Paso will lead the project, partnering with the University of California, Irvine, and ADCRR. Key deliverables for the field include a toolkit for violence reduction through housing policy reform, a webinar on innovative housing strategies, and a final report. This project's strength lies in its innovative focus on housing policies as a lever for reducing serious violence, an approach not previously implemented but grounded in cutting-edge recent research. By addressing safety challenges in a large state prison system through comprehensive housing reforms, this work fills a critical knowledge gap and has the potential to transform violence prevention strategies across the correctional landscape.